The Portland daily press., 1887-07-07
MODEST ROSCOE conkLuNo.
He Knows Nothing About Politics
and confesses His Ignorance.

CHICAGO, ILL.,. July 5.-Roscoe Conkling
arrived here today. In regard to the report
that he was to make a speech at the Grant
Club Thursday evening, he said: 81 shall
not make speech to the club. was invit-
ed to visit the club as guest, and was dis
tinctly tcld that no addresses would be made.
certainly shall not speak. / am here on le-
gal business" The conversation turned up
on Henry George and his theories. and Mr..
Conkling interviewed the interviewer about
the doctrines of the new party.
"The United Labor Party will probably
be an important factor in the next presiden-
tial election, will it not?" inquired the re-
porter.
docs the Labor Party intend to run
candidate, ,for the Presidency9" Mr.. Conk-
ling .g asked.
.'Who viii they name."
Probably Henry George"
well, that OF course will show how far
his land doctrines are received. ask you
the questions about Henry George and his
party because l am ignorant | do not pre-
thnd to be posted about them. The law is a
jealous mistress, and in this country so vast
and wide, if an attorney attends to the calls
of his profession che will find that his wax
ing hours are too much taken up with his
business to allow him to devote much atten-
tion to anything else. In England--which,
leaving out Wales, is about the size of New
ork State-a man can be in the House of
Commons and still can practice law but in
America, where New York lawyer is eX-
pected to do business not only in the many
courts OF that State, but in the neighboring
States, and even in Illinois, Missouri and
California, it is simply out of the question
for him to NEEDLE with politics ,or anything
else. For many years / ignored this, to tho
injury of my practice, but l assiduously re-
frain from attending to anything else but my
business now"
presidential race once more" suggested the
reporter.
''It would appear so.'
"ls his health good enough to carry him
through, do you think?"
Il see no reason why it should not be. He
is about 56 or 81, should say-but few
years older than land ought to be good for
10 or 20 years more of active life. But why
do you ask me about politics? do not
know what the policy of the Republican
leaders is. Ask those who are in the swim.
rarely see the men who have the supervis-
ion and direction of the party, and when l do
see them i haven't the time to find out the
status OF affairs, and very likely they would
not tell me, anyhow OF course | have my
Ideas about the way things are going, but
they are old-fashioned ideas. and perhaps
not worth backing. can only hope that in
the end all will come out well. One of the
greatest proofs of the divinity and authen-
tscity of the Christian religion is its survival
OF hypocrisy within and attacks upon its
faith from without. So, the strongest surety
that our government will endure is that if an
administration makes grievous blunders, as
we sometimes think, all the losses are made
up and disappear in the grand avalanche of
prosperity. But why do you ask me about
politics? 1t would be immodest for me to
talk about matters in business of which /
know nothing. 1t is as though | should give
when there are hundreds of men who know
a thousand times as much about it as l do"